ABSTRACT
In the early 1990s, India liberalized its economy to embrace free markets. In the subsequent years, neoliberal optimism took the form of a potent discourse of globalization taking a grip over many in political and media establishments. While India was registering impressive gross domestic product growth rate following the reforms, there was discontent against the new economic policies as farmers, youth, landless labor and traditional artisans were struggling to cope with the changes. In Telangana, the drought in 2000 had severe consequences for the farmers as they found themselves in resource intensive agriculture buying seeds from multinationals and depending on scarce groundwater resources. Illegal land acquisitions in and around the capital Hyderabad added to the sense of resentment and deprivation. Mainstream media, consumed by the discourse of globalization, paid inadequate attention to rural distress as many farmers were committing suicide. This chapter argues that Telangana’s unique historical deprivation put it at odds with what it saw as an alliance between Andhra and global capitalism.
